Cardinals send Rzepczynski to minors

On Monday

ST. LOUIS — Making a move to shore up a shaky bullpen, the St. Louis Cardinals have demoted struggling left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski to the minor leagues.

The decision Monday means for now the Cardinals are keeping Mitchell Boggs on the active big league roster despite a 12.66 ERA.

St. Louis selected the contract of right-hander Seth Maness from Triple-A Memphis, and he was expected to join the team in time for Monday night’s game against the Reds. The 24-year-old Maness, 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in five starts in the minors, was the franchise’s minor league pitcher of the year last season and will be making his major league debut.

Rzepczynski allowed seven runs in eight innings over nine appearances for a 7.88 ERA and gave up a two-run homer to Russell Martin in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 9-0 loss to the Pirates. Boggs was charged with the other three runs in that inning.